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Starly Line/DPPt
In Diamond and Pearl, Starly can be found on Routes 201, 202, 203, 204, 209, 212, Lake Verity, and the Great Marsh, and in Platinum on Routes 201, 202, 203, and 204, and at Lake Verity. In Diamond and Pearl, Staravia can be caught on Routes 209, 212, Lake Verity, Lake Valor and its adjoining Lakefront, the Trophy Garden, and the Great Marsh. In Platinum, Staravia no longer appears at Lake Verity or the Great Marsh, but can now be caught on Routes 210 and 215 as well It's something of a tradition for every Pokemon game to have an early Flying-type with decent stats to help you early on, but which falls behind later on due to increasingly worse type matchups and the shallowness of its movepool becoming more apparent. The Sinnoh games are not traditional in this sense, however. Not only can Starly be a pivotal member of the team in the early game with its first evolution at Level 14 which grants it the Intimidate ability to give better durability, and even earlier excellent STAB with Wing Attack at Level 9, but it remains a dominating force throughout the whole of Sinnoh, gaining access to the coveted Close Combat, letting Staraptor simply rip through many threats that would be flat out suicidal for other Flying-types to battle. It may not be a one man army, but despite being in a region as cruel as Sinnoh, it comes pretty darn close. Important Matchups - Platinum = * Rival (Route 203): If your Starly has Wing Attack, the fight against the Rival's own will be all too easy, with its Quick Attack stuck in 5HKO range and your Wing Attack being a solid 2HKO. If it does use Growl, you will still likely 2HKO it, but the rest of the fight may be a bit trickier without switching away. Chimchar and Piplup are easy to deal with, with their attacks stuck at 5HKO range and your Wing Attack ranging from a 3-4HKO against both of them, as well as the fact that you should outspeed. Turtwig is the easiest of the starters to deal with, with your Wing Attack being a 2HKO and its Tackle stuck at 5HKO range. * Gym #1 - Roark (Oreburgh City, Rock-type): Not a very good idea, considering all of his pokemon resist your STAB, and can make it a pain to even get on the field with Stealth Rock. Staravia can maybe get off an Intimidate on Cranidos, but a critical hit can one shot from full health, and you are unlikely to be at full health. Unlike many pokemon you might have by this point, however, Staravia is guaranteed to be faster than Cranidos, so if you need something to revenge kill it after it's been knocked to Red, Staravia can potentially finish it off. Otherwise, however, don't risk bringing it in. * Mars (Valley Windworks): Zubat stands zero chance against Staravia, with Wing Attack being a 2HKO and none of its attacks dealing any significant damage after Intimidate. Staravia will have a tough time dealing with Purugly even if you do manage to hit it with Intimidate upon switching in. Wing Attack is a 4HKO, but so is Purugly's Scratch, and it outspeeds, so only fight it if you have no other options whatsoever. * Gym #2 - Gardenia (Eterna City, Grass-type): Wing Attack spam is your best friend here. While Turtwig can be a pain with Reflect, and Leech Seed from Cherrim or Stun Spore from Roserade are annoying, as long as you have a Super Potion or two to heal off the slowly accumulating damage, Staravia can fight this one itself. Be warned, however, if you play with restrictions on healing items, as the combined damage will be too much for Staravia to safely solo the gym. In this case, either use Staravia to break through her front lines and let another Pokemon take down Roserade, or have your other Pokemon deal with Turtwig so that Staravia remains fresh for the real battle. * Jupiter (Galactic Eterna Building): Just like Mars' Zubat, Jupiter's is just as simple, if not easier, to take down, so go nuts with Wing Attack. Skuntank should be avoided, as its Night Slash greatly outdamages Staravia's Wing Attack, even with an Intimidate, and since critical hits completely bypass the Attack reduction, the increased-crit-ratio attack becomes an even bigger threat. * Gym #3 - Fantina (Hearthome City, Ghost-type): Duskull will be taken down within three turns with minimal risk to Staravia itself, but make sure you bring Burn Heals, as that Will-O-Wisp attack will cripple Staravia for the rest of the fight if left unchecked. Staraptor also greatly outdamages Haunter's Sucker Punch with Wing Attack, but make sure that you bring Awakenings or Full Heals, since Haunter can use Hypnosis and Confuse Ray to make things trickier for your bird. Mismagius is, unfortunately, just a bit too strong for Staravia, since it outspeeds you and its Psybeam outdamages your Wing Attack. * Rival (Hearthome City): You beat your Rival's own Staravia... barely. Although your Wing Attack is a 4HKO compared to the Rival's 5HKO, you may just want to leave it to another Pokemon which doesn't suffer as much from its Intimidate. Buizel is easier, being 2HKOed by Wing Attack, compared to its Water Gun's 5HKO. Wing Attack has a very high chance to OHKO Roselia, so go nuts against it. Wing Attack will 3HKO Ponyta, while it can't sufficiently weaken you with its Ember, making this battle doable. Monferno's new Fighting-type disadvantages it against Staravia's Flying-type STAB, being 2HKOed by Wing Attack while it is only able to 4HKO with Flame Wheel at best. Avoid Prinplup, since its BubbleBeam can 2HKO Staravia while you can't even break 3HKO range with Wing Attack. Grotle is bulky, but it lacks the offensive strength to deal with Staravia, so go nuts on it. * Gym #4 - Maylene (Veilstone City, Fighting-type): Aerial Ace will OHKO Meditite before it can do anything, apart from maybe using Fake Out, and Machoke is 2HKOed. Machoke's Rock Tomb also doesn't deal as much damage after an Intimidate, giving Staravia an advantage against it. Lucario is, unfortunately, too strong for Staravia, even after taking an Intimidate, with its Drain Punch and Force Palm being 3HKOs and your Aerial Ace being a 4HKO. * Rival (Pastoria City): Staraptor's Return will 2HKO Staravia, while its Wing Attack can hardly touch you. Just make sure you don't accidentally get hit with Endeavor, which takes advantage of your advantage and switches the advantage to advantage your rival, do you advanta- I mean, do you understand? Return will OHKO Buizel and Ponyta, and Aerial Ace OHKOs Roselia. Against Monferno, Aerial Ace has a 50/50 chance to OHKO, while it can hardly touch you with Flame Wheel. Prinplup's BubbleBeam will 3HKO Staraptor, but your Return 2HKOs it, and you outspeed, giving you the upper hand. Grotle cannot handle repeated Aerial Aces from Staraptor, so go nuts. * Gym #5 - Crasher Wake (Pastoria City, Water-type): Staraptor 3HKOs Gyarados using Return, while its best attack up-to-a-point, Waterfall, is only a 4HKO. However, if Crasher Wake heals up and you are below 50% HP, heal up immediately, as Gyarados' Brine doubles in power and can KO Staraptor from half health. Furthermore, make sure you switch out to reset the Intimidate that you took at the start of the battle. Quagsire is a step up from its Diamond and Pearl counterpart, with an actual offensive option in the form of Water Pulse, although Staraptor still wins with its Return, which 2HKOs. Only fight Floatzel at full health, since it has Brine and it outspeeds. At full health, though, Staraptor wins the fight, 2HKOing with Return. * Cyrus (Celestic Town): Use Close Combat to OHKO Sneasel, since its Ice Punch actually does pack quite a bit of damage under it and it outspeeds - it's best to just get it out of the way immediately. Return 2HKOs Golbat, while its Air Cutter only barely breaks 3HKO range, even if you are still suffering the Special Defense reduction from that initial Close Combat. Murkrow has a nice chance to be OHKOed by Return, and will certainly be at least 2HKOed, while its Drill Peck, when Intimidated, can't even break 4HKO range, so go nuts on it. * Rival (Canalave City): Your Staraptor's Return beats the Rival's Staraptor's Aerial Ace, a 3HKO against a 5HKO. Aerial Ace OHKOs Heracross, go nuts on it. Return 2HKOs Floatzel, Aerial Ace OHKOs Roserade, and Return 2HKOs Rapidash. Meanwhile, none of those three can do anything before they go down. Use Aerial Ace to 2HKO Infernape, since it can only break a 4HKO using Brick Break. BubbleBeam may break a 2HKO against Staraptor, but if you are at full health, your Close Combat 2HKOs it. And Torterra still lacks any viable offensive options against Staraptor, so go nuts. * Gym #6 - Byron (Canalave City, Steel-type): Magneton may OHKO using Thunderbolt, but you outspeed it and you OHKO with Close Combat - you will certainly beat it, but only try it to show off in front of friends who want to see you mess up. Steelix will be a bit trickier, since its Flash Cannon slowly grows in power with each Close Combat you use, possibly allowing it to defeat you before you defeat it. You may want to avoid him. Only fight Bastiodon if you are extremely confident in your OHKO abilities. Although Close Combat will likely OHKO, it's not a 100% sure thing, and if you mess up, Metal Burst will KO you back if he uses it. Even if he doesn't use Metal Burst, a critical Stone Edge will bust through your Intimidate and OHKO anyways. * Saturn (Lake Valor): Return 2HKOs the Golbat, while its Air Cutter barely breaks 4HKO range, making it fairly simple. Close Combat 2HKOs Bronzor - as long as it doesn't use Iron Defense - while it can hardly touch you, so go nuts. Fly OHKOs Toxicroak, although if you don't have that move, Aerial Ace is still a very solid 2HKO. Meanwhile, Toxicroak can only, at most, 3HKO with Revenge, which is already reduced priority and will likely only hit once before it goes down, if it even gets to use it at all. * Mars (Lake Verity): Return 2HKOs Golbat, while it can only 5HKO back with Air Cutter, a fairly safe fight there. Close Combat should 2HKO Bronzor, while its Extrasensory can only 6HKO - as long as you avoid its Confuse Ray, you should be fine. Close Combat has a very high chance to OHKO Purugly, and will certainly 2HKO if you somehow miss the instant knockout. Meanwhile, Purugly isn't able to do too much to Staraptor, even if it uses a Fake Out followed by Slash. * Gym #7 - Candice (Snowpoint City, Ice-type): Sneasel dies in one hit to Close Combat, and even has a 75% chance to be OHKOed by Return, although it will manage to get one Ice Shard off before you take it down, which does 4HKO. Return 2HKOs Piloswine and is the safer option, since a defense cut from Close Combat means that Avalanche will have a chance to OHKO. Of course, if you're injured and weakened from Sneasel, this means to avoid Piloswine entirely. The same situation applies for Abomasnow, which is 2HKOed by Aerial Ace and could possibly be OHKOed with Fly, while it can't OHKO you unless you have a Close Combat defense cut. If using Fly, though, be wary of any Hail damage. Avoid Froslass entirely - it OHKOs with Blizzard, which has perfect accuracy under Hail. * Cyrus (Galactic HQ): Close Combat OHKOs Sneasel, but note that Sneasel outspeeds and can 2HKO with Ice Punch. Return 2HKOs Crobat safely, since its best attack, Air Cutter, only barely breaks 4HKO range. Staraptor also has the upperhand against Honchkrow, with its Return 2HKOing even after the Sitrus Berry activates, while Honchkrow only has a chance to 3HKO with Drill Peck. * Saturn (Galactic HQ): This fight is essentially a repeat of the battle at Lake Valor. Return 2HKOs Golbat while it can't do much with its moves, so go nuts. Close Combat 2HKOs Bronzor, and its Extrasensory just barely breaks 6HKO range, making it a safe KO. Fly OHKOs Toxicroak safely enough, and if you don't have it, use Aerial Ace to 2HKO. * Mars and Jupiter (Spear Pillar, tag battle with rival): The first target you need to eliminate is Jupiter's Bronzor. Mars' Bronzor isn't able to cause sufficient threats, although Jupiter's can set up Reflect, giving Staraptor much more trouble in the long run. Both Bronzors can be 2HKOed by Close Combat, although after killing one, you should use U-Turn and get out of there to prevent the Defense reductions from harming you against the real threats. Both Golbats are 2HKOed by Return, and neither of them really take any priority - defeat whichever one you want first. Purugly is OHKOed by Close Combat, fairly simple. Return will 3HKO Skuntank after the Sitrus Berry, while it can 3HKO you with Flamethrower if you have used Close Combat without switching out - take it on at your own risk. * Cyrus (Distortion World): Close Combat OHKOs Houndoom before it can do anything, go wild on it. Against Honchkrow, your Return 2HKOs and you outspeed, while its coverage of Psychic and Heat Wave can only 3HKO, making it a fairly easy kill. Return 2HKOs Crobat, but Crobat outspeeds and its Air Slash 3HKOs, so play it safe there. Staraptor vs. Gyarados is a mirror match of the 3HKOs - your Return against its Ice Fang - after each of you uses Intimidate, although if you didn't switch in on it, you'll be at a disadvantage. Close Combat OHKOs Weavile, although its intimidated Ice Punch can 2HKO - if you're at full health, you should be safe, barring any critical hits. * Giratina (Distortion World): Giratina is just too strong - its AncientPower can 2HKO Staraptor. Don't send your bird out against it unless you plan on using your Master Ball. * Gym #8 - Volkner (Sunyshore City, Electric-type): Staraptor is unable to defeat Jolteon, since it outspeeds and 2HKOs with Charge Beam, while you just barely miss out on the OHKO with Return. The same cannot be said with Raichu, though. You have a good chance to OHKO it with Return and you outspeed it, while it can only 2HKO with Charge Beam. Staraptor outspeeds Luxray and 2HKOs with Return, while it only has a chance to 2HKO with Thunder Fang, so you should be able to defeat it. Fight Electivire at your own risk - although its ThunderPunch 2HKOs, you outspeed and your Return has a very high - but not totally guaranteed - chance of 2HKOing after the Sitrus Berry activates. * Rival (Pokémon League): Your Brave Bird will 2HKO your rival's Staraptor, although if your rival uses Close Combat, you can use Return instead of a second Brave Bird, reducing the recoil damage you take. Brave Bird OHKOs Roserade, simple enough win there. Brave Bird will have a small chance to OHKO Rapidash, but be careful, as its Fire Blast will wipe out a minimum of 50% of Staraptor's health in one shot, if it's not sunny - fight it at your own risk. Floatzel is just as risky as Rapidash since, although your Brave Bird has a better chance to OHKO Floatzel than Rapidash, Floatzel outspeeds and will 4HKO with Ice Fang, meaning that any recoil damage you take can cause Floatzel to take you down before you can eliminate it. Close Combat 2HKOs Snorlax, while its Body Slam doesn't have the necessary strength to retaliate against Staraptor. Brave Bird OHKOs Heracross, nothing else to say about that. Brave Bird OHKOs Infernape, but it outspeeds and will 2HKO with Flamethrower, so be careful if you've already taken damage before this fight. Empoleon is easier, but not by much. Close Combat 2HKOs, although be careful of its Brine, which 2HKOs after the first Close Combat's defense reduction. Torterra is a much bigger threat than it was in its previous battles, since its Leaf Storm will 2HKO and your Brave Bird only has a chance to OHKO, meaning that the recoil damage taken plus the Torterra's initial attack gives your rival a chance to knock out your Staraptor. * Elite Four Aaron (Pokémon League, Bug-type): Trained up to near-Cynthia levels, Yanmega, Vespiquen, and Heracross are all OHKOed by Brave Bird. Scizor can take a Brave Bird, but isn't able to retaliate with anything strong enough before being eliminated next turn by Return. Brave Bird 2HKOs Drapion after the Sitrus Berry, while its Ice Fang doesn't even break 5HKO range, so go nuts against it... just make sure you are healed up after all those OHKOs from before. * Elite Four Bertha (Pokémon League, Ground-type): Use Return to 2HKO Whiscash, and do it fast since you don't exactly want it to set up Sandstorm. If it does, no worry, you just have to keep a closer eye on your HP. Brave Bird 2HKOs Gliscor, while it can't even 4HKO with its Super-Effective Fang attacks after Intimidate. Fight Hippowdon at your own risk, as its Stone Edge will OHKO on a crit, while Brave Bird doesn't even guarantee a 2HKO against it. Close Combat 2HKOs Golem, while it can't even 3HKO with ThunderPunch, so go nuts on it. Do not fight Rhyperior - Rock Wrecker OHKOs, even if it took an Intimidate. * Elite Four Flint (Pokémon League, Fire-type): Poor Houndoom... Return will very likely OHKO it before it can do anything, although Brave Bird and Close Combat may be used for a 100% certain chance. Brave Bird should OHKO Flareon, but be careful if it survives, since Overheat can take away up to 80% of Staraptor's HP without intense sunlight. Return 2HKOs Rapidash, and Brave Bird has a small chance to OHKO if you're willing to take the recoil, while Rapidash only has a chance to outspeed Staraptor with a high level advantage, and even its sun-boosted Flare Blitz can only deal a maximum of 55% of Staraptor's health in damage after being Intimidated. Do not fight Infernape under sun, because it outspeeds and a sun-boosted Flare Blitz will KO Staraptor after any amount of Brave Bird recoil. However, if you're at full health and not sitting under the sun, Staraptor stands a chance, since Brave Bird will OHKO Infernape. Avoid fighting Magmortar, since its Thunderbolt deals near-fatal amounts of damage, Brave Bird's recoil will allow Magmortar to KO, and Return won't be able to 2HKO after the Sitrus Berry. * Elite Four Lucian (Pokémon League, Psychic-type): Mr. Mime's Thunderbolt is scary on paper, but Staraptor outspeeds and OHKOs Mr. Mime with Brave Bird before it can do anything. Staraptor OHKOs Espeon with Brave Bird, but the two speed-tie each other, and Espeon can deal some pretty heavy damage with its Psychic. Bronzong is just too sturdy for Staraptor to deal with, with your Close Combat being a 3HKO and its Psychic already veering into 2HKO territory without any defense reductions. Only fight Alakazam if you are at full health, since its Psychic 2HKOs and it outspeeds. However, at full health, you can survive the attack and subsequently OHKO with Return. Staraptor outmatches Gallade completely, since you outspeed and OHKO with Brave Bird. * Champion Cynthia (Pokémon League): Brave Bird 2HKOs Spiritomb, while it can only 3HKO with Dark Pulse, making it a somewhat safe matchup. Roserade's Sludge Bomb may 2HKO, but you outspeed and OHKO with Brave Bird, making it very safe to handle. Brave Bird 2HKOs Togekiss and you outspeed, but if you're damaged from any prior matchups, be careful - Shock Wave also 2HKOs. Staraptor outspeeds Lucario and should OHKO it with Close Combat before it gets a chance to retaliate with Aura Sphere, so go nuts against it. Milotic will be too dangerous to fight, as its Ice Beam outdamages anything that you have. Garchomp only barely outclasses Staraptor in the final fight - Brave Bird is an unnecessary risk against it, and your Return against its Dragon Rush is a battle of the 3HKOs which Garchomp wins due to its speed. * Post-Game: Nothing in the postgame - not even Team Galactic and Heatran - has anything on the curb-stomping power of Staraptor. }} Moves At its lowest catchable level, Starly will start out with Tackle and Growl, some fairly basic moves there. At level 5, Tackle is immediately overshadowed by Quick Attack, which is a direct upgrade but will still never maintain a permanent moveslot due to the Starly line's Speed already being sufficient enough to eliminate opponents quickly. Wing Attack at level 9 will be the first bit of STAB which Starly gets, and will carry it rather nicely through the early game until it learns Brave Bird later on. At level 13, Starly learns Double Team, which is annoying to foes but unreliable in the long run. After evolving into Staravia at level 14, it learns Endeavor at level 18, and putting it this way, if you're ever in a situation where Endeavor is the right move to use, you're playing the game wrong. Whirlwind at level 23 is useless, while Aerial Ace at 28 is an upgrade from Wing Attack, and may be used until Brave Bird or Fly is attained. At 33, Staravia will attempt to learn Take Down, which isn't exactly viable despite being a STAB attack. One level later, at 34, Staravia will evolve into Staraptor and will attempt to learn Close Combat, giving Staraptor the ability to take down threats which other Flying-types wouldn't dare fight by itself. Staraptor will try to learn Agility at level 41, but its current Speed stat is already sufficient. And at level 49, Staraptor finally learns its best Flying-type STAB in the form of Brave Bird, a move which, despite its recoil rate, will generally make short work of any opponent that doesn't resist it. In terms of TMs, the most noteworthy one is Return, a powerful STAB attack which can be learned as early as Starly if needed. TM89 - U-Turn - turns Staraptor into an excellent pivot, allowing it to fire off an Intimidate and then immediately switch out while still striking the foe for a bit of damage. Fly is also a possibility for Staraptor and can act as a substitute for Brave Bird, if you want a move with no recoil as well as a turn of immunity, although do note that the damage output is 25% less than Brave Bird would be, Fly itself is less accurate, and it requires the Move Deleter to get rid of, meaning you'll be stuck with it until Canalave City. Roost, Steel Wing, and Protect may also be used to fill up Staraptor's fourth moveslot. Recommended moveset: Brave Bird/Fly, Return, Close Combat, U-Turn/Roost/Steel Wing/Protect Recommended Teammates *'Ground-Types:' Thanks to Close Combat, Staraptor is unique among Normal/Flying types in its ability to dispatch Ice and Rock types with surprising reliability. This leaves Electric Types as its primary threat. Ground types are an obvious solution to this issue, with an immunity to Electric attacks altogether, and as an added bonus, a resistance to Rock type moves. Staraptor is also capable of taking out Grass-type Pokemon, which would otherwise be terrifying for Ground-types to deal with in a normal situation. One should keep in mind, however, that this will result in at least a third of your team being weak to Ice, unless your Ground type of choice has a secondary typing that nullifies this weakness. Therefore, extreme caution should be exercised if you so choose to partner Staraptor with a Ground type doubly weak to Ice such as Torterra or Garchomp. ** Good Pokemon that fit this description: Steelix, Gastrodon, Quagsire, Whiscash, Mamoswine, Torterra, Garchomp * Water-Types: Most Pokemon that resist Electric also share Staraptor's weakness to Ice, and though Staraptor's Close Combat does help to mitigate this issue slightly, a defensive answer to Ice attacks is imperative. Water types are among the most readily available answers to this need, and typically have little to fear from whatever coverage most Ice types will have access to, with the more notable exceptions, such as Abomasnow, already being well covered by Staraptor's STAB. Ground/Water Types and Empoleon are particularly good choices, the former covering all of Staraptor's weaknesses, and their only weakness covered in return, the latter capable of running a STAB Flash Cannon for immediately dispatching the aforementioned Ice types, and also making an excellent pivot for Staraptor to bring in with U turn, becoming even more resilient thanks to the Intimidate laid down by Staraptor. ** Good Pokemon that fit this description: Gastrodon, Quagsire, Whiscash, Empoleon, Milotic, Golduck, Vaporeon * Specially Defensive Pokemon: Thanks to Intimidate, Staraptor is more capable of switching in on hard hitting physical attackers than its stats would suggest. However, the same cannot be said for its Special Defense. As such, partnering Staraptor with a Pokemon with good Special bulk is ideal, and said Pokemon appreciate Staraptor's ability to Intimidate Physical Attackers as well, improving their capabilities of taking physical hits. ** Good Pokemon that fit this description: Blissey, Empoleon, Milotic, Gastrodon, Vaporeon, Clefable, Bronzong, Umbreon Other Starly's stats Staravia's stats Staraptor's stats * What Nature do I want? Anything boosting Attack or Speed or lowering Special Attack is instantly worth its weight in gold. Staraptor really doesn't like having its Attack cut, nor does it usually enjoy the lowered Speed, but neither one is enough to be a deal breaker. * At what point in the game should I be evolved? While it won't want to participate in the battle either way, you should definitely make the effort to get Starly evolved into Staravia before taking on Roark. Staravia, meanwhile, should be evolved immediately upon reaching level 34, lest it miss out on the mighty Close Combat until the move relearner. You should be at that level by the time you fight Fantina in Diamond and Pearl, or either right before or shortly after the fight with Maylene in Platinum. * How good is the Starly line in a Nuzlocke? Starly and its evolutions are as close to gamebreaking as one can get without actually being gamebreaking. I mean, a Pokemon that can stand its own in two of the three gyms in the game which actively have a type advantage against it? Starly and Staravia don't require that much babying and can actually get along decently fine before reaching the legendary Staraptor stage. From there, it can take on just about anything short of super-effective Special Attacks, and even those are noticably uncommon until the late-game. In short, if you got a Starly, use it, unless you want to miss out on one of the best Pokemon that Sinnoh offers. * Weaknesses: Electric, Ice, Rock * Resistances: Grass, Bug * Immunities: Ground, Ghost * Neutralities: Normal, Fire, Water, Poison, Fighting, Flying, Psychic, Dragon, Dark, Steel Category:Diamond/Pearl/Platinum Category:List of Evolutionary Lines with Completed Analyses